The present invention relates to a shipping/display box which can be used for shipping items to a store and then displaying the items in the store, and to a method of converting a box from a shipping mode to a display mode.
It is conventional to employ a box, such as a corrugated cardboard box, for shipping items to a store and then as a display container within the store. For example, each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,002,613, 4,793,487 and 5,927,498 discloses a box containing two rows of articles. The box includes a tear-away strip that extends around three sides of the box. Once the tear-away strip has been removed, a remaining fourth side forms a fold axis about which the box can be folded to produce two side-by-side compartments containing respective rows of articles.
However, a tear-away strip which extends continuously around three sides of a box serves to considerably weaken the box, whereby the box is less able to withstand external forces during shipment. Also, the resulting compartments are open only at their tops, making it difficult for a shopper to notice and identify the particular articles.
It would be desirable to provide a fold-in-half display box which exhibits improved strength for shipping and stacking and yet is able to expose front sides of the articles being displayed.
The present invention relates to a fold-in-half shipping/display box comprising a horizontal top side, a horizontal bottom side, parallel front and rear vertical sides interconnecting the top and bottom sides, and parallel end sides interconnecting the top and bottom sides. The front side intersects the top and bottom sides along a top front edge and a bottom front edge, respectively, of the box. The rear side intersects the top and bottom sides along a top rear edge and a bottom rear edge, respectively, of the box. The front side includes a tear-away portion having upper and lower edges coinciding with the top front edge and the bottom front edge, respectively. The rear side and the top side have a perforated line formed therein, the perforated line including a first section extending within the rear side perpendicularly from the bottom rear edge to the top rear edge, and a second section extending within the top side perpendicularly from the top rear edge to the top front edge. The bottom side includes a fold line extending perpendicularly from the bottom rear edge to the bottom front edge. The perforated line and the fold line lie in a common vertical plane bisecting the box. When the tear-away portion is removed, and the perforated line has been severed, and the bottom side has been folded in half along the fold line, the box presents a pair of side-by-side compartments separated by the folded-in-half bottom wall and resting on respective ones of the end sides.
The invention also pertains to the method of converting that box from a shipping mode to a display mode.